Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

As you can tell from the picture, that trifle doesn’t exactly look like a cake. This was one of those “when life gives you lemons you make lemonade” situations. I was planning to make this carrot cake recipe for Thanksgiving dessert, to go along with the pumpkin pies that my great aunt was planning on bringing. As luck(?) would have it, for the first time in three years, I had cakes fall apart when turning them out of the pan. Of course it would happen the night before Thanksgiving, when I didn’t have the extra ingredients or the extra time to re-make or the cake. So, a trifle it was! The cake was meant to be a three-layer cake with sweet cream cheese frosting between each layer and on top of the cake. So I recreated the cake in trifle form. I looked on the bright side – it took less time to assemble than the finishing decorative touches on a cake would have 😉 The good news? This cake was absolutely out-of-this-world. In the stratosphere of most amazing carrot cakes ever.

My aunt always makes the pumpkin pies for Thanksgiving, but my mom asked if I would make an additional dessert, and of course I said yes. I automatically eliminated anything with pumpkin or any type of pie. It took me awhile to do some thinking and then carrot cake finally dawned on me. I absolutely adore carrot cake and thought that it would make a great finish to Thanksgiving dinner. I sat down with my stack of cookbooks to see if a recipe jumped out at me. I narrowed it down to four different ones and chose this one for two primary reasons: #1 – It’s a Dorie Greenspan recipe. And all of the recipes I have tried from her are, without fail, fabulous. And #2 – It was the only recipe with lots of “stuff” in the cake (“stuff” would be defined as nuts, raisins and coconut). I like my carrot cake chunky and hearty. The only change I made was to add cloves, nutmeg and allspice to the cinnamon in the original recipe since I wanted to punch up the spice factor a bit.

I highly, highly recommend this cake. I love carrot cake and this one probably ranks in the top two that I have ever eaten (the other being while on vacation in the Outer Banks). Hope everyone in the U.S. had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday and a relaxing weekend!

3. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the sugar and oil together on medium speed until smooth. Add the eggs one by one, and continue to beat until the batter is even smoother. Reduce the speed to low and add the flour mixture, mixing only until the dry ingredients disappear. Gently mix in the chunky ingredients. Divide the batter among the three baking pans.

4. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes, rotating the pans from top to bottom and front to back at the midway point, until a thin knife inserted into the centers comes out clean; the cakes will have just started to come away from the sides of the pans. Transfer the cakes to cooling racks and cool for about 5 minutes, then run a knife around the sides of the cakes and unmold them. Invert and cool to room temperature right side up. (The cakes can be wrapped airtight and kept at room temperature overnight or frozen for up to 2 months.)

5. To make the frosting: Beat the cream cheese and butter together until smooth and creamy. Gradually add the sugar and continue to beat until the frosting is velvety smooth. Beat in the vanilla extract until well-combined.

6. To assemble, stack the layers, spreading a generous amount of frosting between layers and then cover the top and sides. Garnish and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before serving.

*Note 1: If you like a substantial layer of frosting between layers, I would probably use 1.5 times the quantities in the frosting recipe. Too much frosting is always much better than not enough 🙂

*Note 2: Covered, the cake will keep at room temperature for 2 to 3 days.

Oh!!! It’s beautiful, and it seems to be delicious!!
At home, mum and me make some carrot muffins, but with the Betty Croker Mix, so it hasn’t worth.
We wanted to make something homemade (is the correct word???) and with the cheese frosting, like we eat in restaurants and cafés, so I’ll save this recipe. Perhaps we can try it when I go home this Christmas 😉
Thank you!!!

I made a carrot cake last weekend the night before a bake sale it was supposed to go to. I turned it out of my bundt pan, and a ring of cake was still stuck on the bottom! I gently pried it out and laid it on top the rest of the cake. With a smattering of frosting over top, no one ever found out!

Wow, by just looking at your gorgeous trifle, you would have never of known that it was meant to be a layered cake. I LOVE that you made it into a trifle, it looks sooooo good. Carrot cake is one of my absolute favorites and yours looks insanely delicious. I’m so making this trifle as soon as possible.

What a cute story! I love how you don’t sweat it you just shift gears! Great save and looks divine.I’ve ask you this before but, I’ll ask again ……. Would you have a recipe to share for mini ladylocks? I have one that’s o.k. but ,always looking to improve.

I’ll be waiting! Ilive in northeast Pa now and these people don’t have a clue what they are up here,when I do make the recipe I have they all go crazy for them.I also want to try to make Italian peaches too, have you ever made them?That will really knock their socks off!Hey ,you can take the girl out of Pittsburgh,but ,you cann’t take the cookies out of the Pittsburgh girl!

Hi Michelle!! I found this comment after searching your site for “ladylocks”. Also from PGH originally, I live in MD now and I’ve been on a mission to make these. I tried 3, yes 3, dough recipes this weekend and only 1 was remotely acceptable. And that’s pushing it. So have you tackled them yet, and if not, do you have a recipe by chance that you trust? Thanks!

I love that you took a negative and turned it into a positive like that. I had a lemon cake fall apart a few weeks ago and I swear it felt like the end of the world. I will have yo rember this if it ever happens again. Btw the trifle looks fabulous!

That is such a wonderful idea. A friend gave me a Pampered Chef trifle bowl for my birthday and I have been searching for ideas. I never thought of something so easy to do as just a cake with icing layers and maybe through in a filling also. Thanks so much. This is my first time on your blog and I will definately be back to read more. I found you when I was searching for icing recipes for my Christmas cookies. I love the detail that you provided. Thanks so much.

I have 2 questions that may sound ridiculous (sorry!):
-Can this be made into a cupcake recipe? I ask because I love how carrot cake is so moist and I don’t want that to be lost if it’s in cupcake form.
-Is the coconut critical? I hate to say it but I’m not a huge coconut fan.

Michelle! Help! First, let me say that I just stumbled on your website and am SO thrilled that I did!! I’m beyond excited to start trying your recipes!… Now, for the help I need… On Thanksgiving, my brother-in-law challenged me to a “carrot cake bake off”! I, of course, excepted this challenge and then proceeded to talk all kinds of trash! I mean who does he think he is?!?…I am the baker in this family! LOL! Buuut… I’ve never made a carrot cake??! YIKES! I’m going to use your recipe of course! Any tips to ensure I will be victorious? 🙂

I just made this cake (not as a trifle) for a holiday/birthday dessert… it was incredible. I omitted the nuts (since the birthday person wasn’t a fan), but it still came out so well. It did crack, too, as I turned it out, but it didn’t matter at all. That’s what frosting is for, right? Thanks for sharing a great recipe!

I am new to your site but already love it! Quick question about this recipe – for your trifle above, did you just use the amount of frosting the recipe calls for above or did you almost double it as you recommended for those who like more frosting?

I love the idea of turning any regular cake into a trifle, simple but genuis. Thanks for that!

I have had your blog bookmarked for a while now and I have made many of your recipes, but this one is hands down the best. I love the trifle idea and was planning on that, but when my cakes came out of the pan so nicely, I decided to frost it up. It turned out amazing. One thing that I did was put the layers in the freezer for 45 minutes as soon as they came out of the pan. This kept them sooo moist and was super easy to frost. Thank you, thank you!

Made this cake today! Found the recipe super easy (used the food processor to finely chop up my carrots). The frosting was just the right amount for my tastes—enough to frost between the 2 layers I made and the top. It wasn’t as heavy or moist as other carrot cakes I’ve made, but I think crushed pineapple added in some recipes gives that texture….this one was perfectly acceptable and I will be making it again. Thanks for the recipe!

i made this yesterday for a friend, and it was DELISH! very moist. I didn’t use the nuts (she’s allergic) or the dried fruit, but i added in chocolate chips, as i am a firm believer that chocolate makes everything better =). will definitely make this again!

Michelle, I am in the process of making this cake for tomorrow’s Thanksgiving feast and am very excited to see how it turns out.However, as I’m looking at the frosting recipe, it calls for 4 oz. butter and in parentheses it says (1/2 cup). I’m guessing the 4 oz. is correct and the parentheses should read 1/4 cup? I looked at other carrot cake frosting recipes and they seem to call for 4 oz., so I’m going to go with that amount. Just wanted to let you know in case that tidbit needs fixing. Thanks for always sharing great recipes.

Ha! I love this! I totally did this with a birthday cake I made for a friend once. I was going for a 3-layer chocolate cake with cream cheese icing and the cakes broke on me. So I dumped the cake pieces into a trifle dish, layed with icing, and decorated the top like a cake (complete with candles and sprinkles and everything!). I’ve gotten requests for “birthday cake trifles” ever since. 🙂

I am deathly allergic to chocolate…like when I bake anything chocolate for the family, I wear surgical gloves ha! So… Carrot cake is one of my favorite things. The best carrot cake I have ever had was at J. ALexanders and I don’t think its the recipe so much, its the way they serve it. Right before the serve it, they heat it up so the cream cheese frosting is melting over the ginormous slice and the inside is hot and gooey….. Heat up your carrot cake- might sound odd BUT it is AMAZING!

I’ve made this twice, and it has stuck horribly to the pans, both times, despite butter flour and lastly non stick spray. The cake still is excellent, even in bits, so I really love the recipe! Does anyone have any tips on how to get the cakes out in a single piece?

I decided to make this last week for my family’s Thanksgiving. I worked on really early on Thursday morning and when I took out for dessert, EVERYONE was floored! I rarely have time to bake and I’m SO happy I opted for your carrot cake recipe. Seriously, the guest could not stop gushing about it. I honestly started to wonder if they were pulling my leg or what, it was that good! Your recipe was PERFECT!! I followed it exactly and it turned out fantastic. So many people wanted the recipe and seconds! I just gave them the link to your website. This is the first recipe I have used from your site, I definitely plan on trying out some more. Thanks so much for sharing it with us, it really was a delicious cake!

After researching several Carrot Cake recipes I decided to try yours. I have made many of your other desserts and gotten rave reviews. It was my father-in-law’s bithday and was worried since this was my first attempt making carrot cake. It was Amazing! Thank You! I followed your recipe just reducing the cloves to 1/2 teaspoon and omitting the coconut. The cake was moist, delicious and the frosting was yummy! I did use 1 & 1/2 recipes of frosting to decorate a triple layer cake.

You definitely need to use parchment paper or wax paper so the cake doesn’t stick. Thank you for that tip! 🙂

I made this in a 9 x 13 pan and it baked perfectly in the time designated– much easier for me to transport to school. I also used ginger and mace with the cinnamon, as my allspice and cloves were whole (no grinder) and some whiskey-soaked currants (no raisins). My teammate loves carrot cake and this is my go to recipe, so thanks again. Try adding some powdered ginger to the frosting for a little heat…

Just wanted to say I made these into cupcakes for a coworker’s birthday and my coworkers said they were the best cupcakes they’ve ever eaten! I had enough left over to make individual trifle jars that were a _huge_ hit too!

Hello. I’ve been wanting to make carrot cake for a while now and I have been reading other recipes on other websites and most of them said they put crushed pineapple in it. Have anyone one tried it with crushed pineapples?

I was so happy to see a carrot cake recipe that did not include pineapple. I am allergic to all citrus, and many recipes use that as part of the cakes’ moisture. I am going to make this for my work along with my pumpkin roll for Thanksgiving.

I made this cake in a 9×13 pan and if came out perfect. It is definitely one of the best carrot cakes I have tried. My niece couldn’t get enough of the frosting and kept licking it off the cake. She said this is the most amazing frosting !!

Found this after my carrot cakes (mini ones in a jar) went over and made a huge mess. Need to salvage them for dessert tomorrow. Trifle to the rescue! Thanks for the idea and for making me feel better about not being the only one with a bit of a flop on my hands! 🙂

I had my old trusty true carrot cake recipe that I’ve used for years but was trying to find a different recipe and turned to you 🙂 I liked the ingredients in this so I tried it last night as cupcakes. I baked them at 350 for about 28 minutes, flipping them halfway (I have an older oven so I watched them like a hawk). I was able to get 24 beautifully moist and light cupcakes. I waited until this morning to frost and they were just perfect. I doubled the frosting recipe and had enough leftover to keep on the side for dipping other goodies into 😉 And this frosting is just one of the yummiest I’ve ever tasted.

Made this last night for an Easter potluck and it turned out Fabulously!! The rich icing balances out the less sweet cake, it’s the perfect combination. If I can offer one piece of advice on this cake-it’s to Make It ASAP! Yummmmmm… 🙂

I’ve long been a fan of your site, but this is my first time commenting. I made this carrot cake for the second time for dessert on Easter Sunday (the first time was last Easter). I just wanted to say that this is not only the best recipe I’ve found for carrot cake, but is the best carrot cake I’ve ever tasted (seconded by my wife’s uncle). This is a great balance of chunky good stuff plus a significant spice flavor (not too much, but the spice is definitely there, unlike other recipes I’ve tried. And the texture is perfect….moist, toothy, but not at all heavy. I’ve made the Cooks Illustrated recipe in the past, but found this to be far better.

Michelle, great job with the site. You bring out everything that is enjoyable and exciting about cooking. I don’t think I could be as committed as you’ve been and you do such a great job with every part of the presentation (baking, writing, photography). You have such a knack for finding truly excellent recipes, and I always enjoy reading your site and find it very inspiring, so thanks!

Hi! I’m going to be making a cake this coming weekend for my birthday. Looking for a stable base cake that will hold the weight (it’ll be a four-layer-tall, 8″ cake!). Do you think this cake won’t crumble when stacked? Thanks!

Hi! I made this last week for my birthday, and the only thing I changed was that I didn’t put any coconut in (I found out my coconut was expired but it was already 2AM and 2 late :< ). I got a sh*t ton of compliments on the cake! You were right, it is an out-of-this-world carrot cake! They were talking about it for hours! Thank you! 😀

Hi, I love this recipe and have baked it few times, but i recently realize that it keeps falling in the middle before i take it out of the oven. i am not sure what am doing wrong.. I follow the instructions precisely. Could you help me get it right?

I made this cake for my husband’s bday and the flavor was great! I did omit the raisins and walnuts (unfortunately) because my kids don’t like them in cake. But it was still great. I plan to make it ‘as is’ sometime soon. I love the extra spices you added. I do the same with an amazing pumpkin bread I make. I will say I also had trouble with the cakes sticking. But I gently pried them out and all was ok. I am going the parchment route next time. Thanks for the recipe! A keeper!

Can I just thank you a million times for NOT putting pineapple in this???!! I have wanted a carrot cake, not a carrot and pineapple cake — and it is near impossible to find recipes w/o pineapple! I am allergic, and it is hard to adjust out the pineapple. God Bless you for keeping true to the real intent of this lovely cake. Thank you! Thank you!!!
May your baby be strong and peaceful!!

PS – I love your site and recipes. Your site and Ree Drummond’s (Pioneer Woman) are the two sites I consistently use to look up recipes and use as a base. Both of you have consistent, delicious results!!!!

Love the trifle idea. Never went so far as to get one of those special dishes though.
I came across an exceptional carrot cake recipe a few years ago, and have been asked to make it many times for many occasions (birthdays to funerals).
My recipe is similar, except omits raisins in favor of about a cup of crushed pineapple, and also has a cup of ground walnuts in the batter.

Here’s a tip: spiking the cream cheese frosting with dried orange peel really transcends the frosting to a whole new level. Try it out!

I just pulled the cakes out of the oven and they seem to have fallen! You said to rotate them half way through (from top to bottom), and I’m wondering if that’s why mine fell. I don’t think yours fell, though, following the same instructions. I did omit the walnuts and coconut because my husband doesn’t like them. Do you think that could be a reason why it fell? The texture looks off as well..like kind of eggy… any ideas??

If I leave these ingredients out of the carrot cake (walnuts, coconut, raisins), will the cake still hold? I’m a little worried about that. I plan to make it into a 10 inch cake. Any advice on scaling it up?

Oh this looks wonderful! Carrot cake is my absolute favorite but I’m so bad at icing cakes so I’m going o try it in the trifle form for Thanksgiving. Yum! Question: I have never made a trifle (I think they look so fancy!) and am wondering how you serve it. Do you just scoop it out with a long spoon? Or do you cut it then scoop it out? Help!

I made this for my grandma’s 80th birthday, and she LOVED IT. She said it was the best carrot cake she has ever had. And I know it’s not just because her granddaughter made it for her, because she has never been one to not tell me when something falls flat.

The cake was moist, and they came out of the pan easy peasy, which was great! I didn’t have 3 small cake pans, so I made this cake with two large(ish) cake pans and it worked out great. The frosting really helped make the cake, and I did end up making 1.5 times the amount of frosting (because…cream cheese frosting).

Just wanted to comment that I also tried this with “creaming” the cream cheese into some whipped cream, then folding the whole lot into more whipped cream. It takes things more into the realm of a trifle, and away from the realm of a cake, but for the crowd that I was serving, they like the fluffier texture. Thanks so much for the wonderful recipe!

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welcome to brown eyed baker!

Hello and welcome to this delicious little corner of the web! Here you'll find approachable recipes for desserts, comfort foods and easy dinners.

I reside in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania with my husband, our two sons, and Golden Retriever.